Go it alone or a partner

Here in the last couple of months I have been thinking of asking a friend of my who has a lawn care biz like myself to partner up. We both have about the same amount of lawns (30 to 35 ), but Im wondering what the pros and cons were of having a biz partner. Would I make more money or less with a partner especially if we expand into anouther crew and other lawn care related services such lite landscaping or landscape lighting. What would you all do?

Our company is a true lawn service partnership. It works well for us because we have good chemistry and the same goals for our company. Don't do it unless both of you want to for the same reasons and also only if you both agree that the partnership ends the second it starts adversely affecting your friendship. Being friends is more important than being business partners. Bad partnerships can ruin friendships. On the other hand good partnerships can make life easier on both people. In our company all of the "chores" are split up between the two of us. For example I don't usually grease machines but I do sharpen most of the blades. Also, taking days off is very possible as long as we schedule a light day in advance. It's not something either of us do a lot of but it is far from an impossibility. There are a lot of sole proprietors out there that are virtually chained to there mowers all season. I'd say the biggest drawback for me is splitting all the profits. But if we grow like we want to both of us will be operating our own crews anyway.

There is no substitute for top-quality equipment. Anything else is a waste of money!